Functional Socks

ABSTRACT

Provided are functional socks including cushion members provided at center areas of bottom surfaces of a pair of left and right socks to maintain recessed areas of soles, and shock absorbing units provided at the cushion members and deformed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the soles to shoes. The shock absorbing unit is formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member, and is selectively constituted by one of a honeycomb structure partitioned by a plurality of support ribs, a plurality of holes disposed parallel to a longitudinal direction of the sole, and a plurality of grooves disposed perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the sole. Side coating sections prevent the soles from being pushed outward, front and rear coating sections prevent slippage, and top coating sections attach toes and tops to shoes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to functional socks, and more particularly, to functional socks that are capable of stably attaching soles to the ground during golf, mountain climbing, and correction of plantar fasciitis or flat feet, and preventing movement such as slippage or the like locally generated from each area of soles due to weight movement.

2. Discussion of Related Art

In general, functional socks, which are widely used by many golfers, are formed of a material such as cotton or the like and have good effects such as thermal insulation, ventilation, sweat absorption, impact absorbency, and so on.

While conventional functional socks have thick bottom surfaces to absorb impact and provide cushioning to improve impact absorbency, since movement such as slippage or the like of soles generated during golf, mountain climbing, or correction of plantar fasciitis or flat feet cannot be easily prevented, stable balance of a lower body cannot be maintained.

In recent times, in order to remedy this problem, functional socks to which anti-slippage structures are applied have been proposed.

However, while the conventional functional socks can prevent slippage between the soles and golf shoes due to the anti-slippage structure upon a swing motion of golf, the slippage generated from each area of the soles upon weight movement according to the swing motion cannot be prevented, and accurate application of a force to the lower body or stability of the weight upon each motion of the swing cannot be maintained.

Accordingly, it is difficult to securely support the lower body and perform a stable swing motion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve these problems, the present invention is directed to provide functional socks that are capable of stably attaching soles to the ground during golf, mountain climbing, and correction of plantar fasciitis or flat feet, and preventing movement such as slippage or the like locally generated from each area of soles due to weight movement.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there are provided functional socks including cushion members provided at center areas of bottom surfaces of a pair of left and right socks to maintain recessed areas of soles; and shock absorbing units provided at the cushion members and deformed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the soles to shoes, wherein the shock absorbing unit is formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member and constituted by a honeycomb structure partitioned by a plurality of support ribs.

Here, the honeycomb structure may be formed in any one shape of a semi-circular shape, a circular shape, and a polygonal shape.

In addition, the shock absorbing unit may be formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member and constituted by a plurality of holes disposed parallel to a longitudinal direction of the sole.

Further, the shock absorbing unit may be formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member and constituted by a plurality of grooves disposed perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the sole.

Meanwhile, side coating sections configured to prevent the soles from being pushed outward may be provided at outer areas of the bottom surfaces of the left and right socks.

Here, the side coating section may be formed of at least two lines having a certain width and length parallel to the longitudinal direction of the sole.

In addition, front coating sections configured to prevent slippage of big toes may be provided at front areas of the bottom surfaces of the left and right socks.

Further, rear coating sections configured to prevent slippage of heels maybe provided at rear areas of the bottom surfaces of the left and right socks.

Furthermore, top coating sections configured to attach toes and tops to shoes may be provided at front areas of top surfaces of the left and right socks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of the functional socks shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing top surfaces of the functional socks according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the present invention is shown and described in connection with exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Hereinafter, functional socks according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of the functional socks shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing top surfaces of the functional socks according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing soles of functional socks according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, functional socks 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention include a pair of left and right socks 10A and 10B, cushion members 20, side coating sections 30, a front coating section 40, a rear coating section 50, and top coating sections 60.

Specifically, the pair of left and right socks 10A and 10B are woven of a material such as cotton to provide effects such as thermal insulation, ventilation, sweat absorption, impact absorbency, and so on.

In addition, the cushion members 20 are provided at central areas of bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B corresponding to recessed areas of the soles such that the soles entirely adhere to the ground.

Here, the cushion members 20 are formed to have shapes and thicknesses corresponding to the recessed areas of the soles.

In addition, the cushion members 20 are formed of silicone, sponge, or the like, having elasticity to increase adhesion between the soles and the ground.

Here, the silicone may be coated on the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B, and the sponge may be separately formed to be attached to the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B via an adhesion unit such as an adhesive agent or the like.

Further, shock absorbing units deformed by a transmitted weight are installed at the bottom surfaces of the cushion members 20.

Each of the shock absorbing units is constituted by a honeycomb structure 24 partitioned by support ribs 22.

Here, the honeycomb structure 24 may be formed in any one shape of a semi-circular shape, a circular shape and a polygonal shape, and in the embodiment, is shown as being formed in the honeycomb structure 24 in which hexagons are regularly arranged to form a honeycomb shape.

Here, the reason for forming the bottom surfaces of the cushion members 20 as the honeycomb structure 24 is that the support ribs 22 are deformed to be pushed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the cushion members 20 to shoes such that the same adhesive force is provided to many and unspecified persons regardless of the recessed area of the soles having different sizes and depths.

That is, when the soles are adhered to the shoes by the cushion members 20, the entire soles can be adhered to the ground.

The cushion members 20 are configured to compensate for the recessed area of the soles to increase adhesion due to the weight to attach the entire soles to the ground upon a swing motion of golf, for example, upon address.

Meanwhile, the side coating sections 30 are installed at outer sides of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to prevent the soles from being pushed outward.

Each of the side coating sections 30 is constituted by two lines having a certain width and length parallel to a longitudinal direction of the soles.

Here, the side coating sections 30 are formed by being coated with silicone or rubber having a high frictional coefficient.

While the side coating sections 30 of the embodiment are shown to have two lines, three or four lines may be provided to maximally prevent the soles from being pushed outward.

The side coating sections 30 are provided as line shapes formed at the outer areas of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to prevent both feet from being pushed outward upon weight movement due to a swing motion of golf, for example, a backswing and a downswing.

Meanwhile, the front coating sections 40 are provided at front areas of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to prevent slippage of big toes of both feet.

The front coating section (40) has a shape corresponding to the big toe to stop slippage of the big toe.

Here, the front coating section 40 is formed by being coated with silicone or rubber having a high frictional coefficient.

Here, the front coating section 40 may be provided at the left sock 10A in the case of a left-handed golfer or may be provided at the right sock 10B in the case of a right-handed golfer. In the embodiment, the front coating section 40 is shown to be provided at the right sock 10B with reference to the right-handed golfer.

The front coating sections 40 are provided at the front areas of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B corresponding to the big toes to prevent slippage of the big toes upon weight movement due to an impact of a swing motion, for example, a downswing of golf, maintaining balance of the lower body.

Meanwhile, the rear coating section 50 is provided at a rear area of the bottom surface 12 or 14 of the left or right sock 10A or 10B to prevent slippage of heels of the soles.

Here, the rear coating section 50 is disposed at an outer area of the heel of the sole.

That is, the outer area of the heel functions as a central shaft upon the weight movement due to the swing motion of golf.

Accordingly, the rear coating section 50 is provided at an outer area of the heel to stop slippage of the heel which functions as a central shaft of the weight movement, and is formed by being coated with silicone or rubber having a high frictional coefficient.

Here, the rear coating section 50 is provided at the left sock 10A in the case of the right-handed golfer and provided at the right sock 10B in the case of the left-handed golfer. In the embodiment, the rear coating section 50 is provided at the left sock with reference to the right-handed golfer.

The rear coating section 50 is provided at the outer area of the bottom surface 12 or 14 of the left or right sock 10A or 10B to prevent slippage of the outer area of the heel serving as a central shaft upon weight movement according to a swing motion of golf, for example, follow-through and finish, maintaining a stable swing motion.

Meanwhile, the top coating sections 60 are provided at the front areas of top surfaces 16 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to attach the toes and tops of both feet to the shoes.

Here, the top coating sections 60 are formed by being coated with silicone or rubber.

The top coating sections 60 are provided at the top surfaces 16 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to attach the toes and tops of both feet to the shoes to securely fix the lower body.

Actions of the functional socks according to the present invention having the above-mentioned configurations will be described below.

As described above, the functional socks 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention have a structure that can increase adhesion of the soles to the ground upon the swing motion of golf and prevent movement such as slippage locally generated from each area of the soles due to the weight movement.

First, the address is a motion of taking a posture with respect to a ball. When the address is incorrect, the ball does not go in a desired direction in spite of a good swing. Accordingly, the address can be thought of as a basic posture of the swing motion.

Here, the entire soles of both feet should be attached to the ground to provide stable balance of the upper and lower bodies.

When the entire soles are to be attached to the ground upon the address, the recessed areas of the soles of the central areas of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B are maintained, and the weight is applied to the cushion members 20 including the shock absorbing units.

Then, the shock absorbing units of the cushion members 20 are deformed by the transmitted weight to be attached to the shoes.

That is, the shock absorbing units formed in the honeycomb structure 24 partitioned by the plurality of support ribs 22 are deformed such that the support ribs 22 are pressed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles upon the address posture to attach the bottom surfaces of the cushion members 20 to the shoes, and thus the same adhesion can be provided to many and unspecified persons regardless of the recessed areas of the soles having different sizes and depths.

When the left and right socks 10A and 10B are adhered to the shoes, the soles and the socks 10A and 10B are adhered to each other and the socks 10A and 10B and the shoes are adhered to each other so that the entire soles can be adhered to the ground.

Accordingly, as the entire soles are adhered to the ground by the cushion members 20 installed at the left and right socks 10A and 10B, shaking of the lower body can be prevented and balance between the upper and lower bodies can be maintained.

That is, since the weight of the whole body is applied to the recessed areas of the soles by the cushion members 20 to be evenly transmitted to the entire soles, instability due to concentration of the weight can be reduced, a stable address posture can be secured, and thus stronger adhesion to the ground can be secured.

The backswing is a motion of pulling a club rightward from the address posture. During the backswing, both hands should be straightened to form a rotating trajectory in which the shoulders and the body integrally form a rotating trajectory to dispose the club at a right side of a user. The downswing is a motion of swinging the club from the backswing posture to the impact to strike the ball. The downswing should form a rotating trajectory to provide the same path as that from the address to the backswing.

In the backswing and downswing postures, the soles may slip outward upon the weight movement due to the rotating trajectory of the body and the club. As the slippage of the soles is stopped by the side coating sections 30 formed at the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B, stable backswing and downswing postures can be secured.

That is, each of the side coating sections 30 is constituted by two lines having a certain width and length parallel to the longitudinal direction of the soles at the outer areas of the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to increase a frictional force between the left and right socks 10A and 10B and the shoes, and thus both feet are prevented from being pushed outward upon the weight movement due to the backswing and downswing.

The impact is a motion of striking a ball in the downswing posture, which is formed by combining rotational forces of the club by the rotating trajectories of the address posture, the backswing and the downswing.

After the impact, the lower body may shake due to the weight movement. For example, in the case of the right-handed golfer, the right foot may slip. Here, as the slippage of the right foot is prevented by the front coating section 40 installed at the right sock 10B, the shaking of the lower body due to the weight movement can be stably suppressed.

That is, the front coating section 40 is provided at the front area of the bottom surface 14 of the right sock 10B corresponding to the big toe of the right foot to prevent the slippage of the big toe upon the weight movement after the impact in the downswing, maintaining balance of the lower body.

The follow-through and finish posture is a motion of pulling the club leftward to provide a desired driving distance such that the ball accurately arrives at a target point after hitting the ball at the impact posture. Like the backswing, both hands should be straightened such that the shoulder and the body integrally form a rotating trajectory to dispose the club at a left side of the user.

In the follow-through and finish posture, upon the weight movement according to the rotating trajectory of the body and the club, for example, in the case of the right-handed golfer, the left foot is used as a central shaft, which causes slippage of the heel of the sole. Here, as the slippage of the left foot is stopped by the rear coating section 50 formed at the left sock 10A, a stable follow-through and finish posture can be secured.

That is, the rear coating section 50 is provided at an outer area of the heel of the bottom surface 12 of the left sock 10A to stop the slippage of the left foot, which functions as a central shaft of the weight movement upon the follow-through and finish.

Meanwhile, as the top coating sections 60 are provided at front areas of the top surfaces 16 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B to attach the toes and tops to the shoes, the lower body can be securely held to prevent damage to feet such as blisters, chafing, and so on, as well as application of excessive load to joints when the shoes are worn for a long time.

The functional socks 10 of the present invention include the cushion members 20, the side coating sections 30, the front coating section 40, the rear coating section 50 and the top coating sections 60 provided at the bottom surfaces 12 and 14 and the top surfaces 16 of the left and right socks 10A and 10B so that adhesion of the entire soles to the ground can be increased upon the swing motion of golf, and movement such as slippage or the like locally generated from each area of the soles due to the weight movement can be stopped to remove shaking causes of the lower body by supporting the entire soles, thereby enabling a stable and accurate swing motion.

That is, according to the functional socks 10 of the present invention, the soles can be stably attached to the ground during golf, mountain climbing and correction of plantar fasciitis or flat feet, and simultaneously, movement such as slippage or the like locally generated from each area of the soles due to weight movement can be prevented.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 4, functional socks according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention are distinguished from the previous embodiment of the present invention in that each of the shock absorbing units installed at the cushion members 20 is constituted by a plurality of holes 26 instead of the honeycomb structure 24.

That is, the shock absorbing unit of the embodiment is constituted by the plurality of holes 26 formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member 20 and disposed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the sole.

Here, the holes 26 may be formed in circular or polygonal shapes, and in the embodiment, the holes 26 are formed in circular shapes.

Like the embodiment of the present invention, the holes 26 are deformed to be pushed by the weight to fill the space of the holes 26 when the cushion members 20 are pushed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles, and the cushion members 20 can provide the same adhesion to many and unspecified persons such that the entire soles can be adhered to the ground regardless of the recessed areas of the soles having different sizes and depths.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, functional socks according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention are distinguished from the previous embodiments in that each of the shock absorbing units installed at the cushion members 20 is constituted by a plurality of long grooves 28 instead of the honeycomb structure 24.

That is, the shock absorbing unit of the embodiment is constituted by the plurality of long grooves 28 formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member 20 and disposed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the sole.

Like the previous embodiments of the present invention, since the long grooves 28 are pushed and deformed by the weight to fill the space of the long grooves 28 when the cushion members 20 are pushed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles, the cushion members 20 can provide the same adhesion to many and unspecified persons such that the entire soles can be adhered to the ground regardless of the recessed areas of the soles having different sizes and depths.

As can be seen from the foregoing, according to the functional socks of the present invention, the soles can be stably adhered to the ground during golf, mountain climbing and correction of plantar fasciitis or flat feet, and simultaneously, movement such as slippage or the like locally generated from each area of the soles due to weight movement can be prevented.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers all such modifications provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Functional socks comprising: cushion members (20) provided at center areas of bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of a pair of left and right socks (10A and 10B) to maintain recessed areas of soles; and shock absorbing units provided at the cushion members and deformed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the soles to shoes, wherein the shock absorbing unit is formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member (20) and constituted by a honeycomb structure (24) partitioned by a plurality of support ribs (22).
 2. The functional socks according to claim 1, wherein the honeycomb structure (24) is formed in any one shape of a semi-circular shape, a circular shape, and a polygonal shape.
 3. Functional socks comprising: cushion members (20) provided at center areas of bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of a pair of left and right socks (10A and 10B) to maintain recessed areas of soles; and shock absorbing units provided at the cushion members and deformed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the soles to shoes, wherein the shock absorbing unit is formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member (20) and constituted by a plurality of holes (26) disposed parallel to a longitudinal direction of the sole.
 4. Functional socks comprising: cushion members (20) provided at center areas of bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of a pair of left and right socks (10A and 10B) to maintain recessed areas of soles; and shock absorbing units provided at the cushion members and deformed by the weight transmitted to the recessed areas of the soles to attach the soles to shoes, wherein the shock absorbing unit is formed at the bottom surface of the cushion member (20) and constituted by a plurality of grooves (28) disposed perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the sole.
 5. The functional socks according to claim 4, wherein side coating sections (30) configured to prevent the soles from being pushed outward are provided at outer areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 6. The functional socks according to claim 5, wherein the side coating section (30) is formed of at least two lines having a certain width and length parallel to the longitudinal direction of the sole.
 7. The functional socks according to claim 6, wherein front coating sections (40) configured to prevent slippage of big toes are provided at front areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 8. The functional socks according to claim 7, wherein rear coating sections (50) configured to prevent slippage of heels are provided at rear areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 9. The functional socks according to claim 8, wherein top coating sections (60) configured to attach toes and tops to shoes are provided at front areas of top surfaces (16) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 10. The functional socks according to claim 3, wherein side coating sections (30) configured to prevent the soles from being pushed outward are provided at outer areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 11. The functional socks according to claim 2, wherein side coating sections (30) configured to prevent the soles from being pushed outward are provided at outer areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B).
 12. The functional socks according to claim 1, wherein side coating sections (30) configured to prevent the soles from being pushed outward are provided at outer areas of the bottom surfaces (12 and 14) of the left and right socks (10A and 10B). 